


Abandoned

by gilliandersob



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Gen, for UFO day, short and sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-03
Updated: 2014-07-03
Packaged: 2018-02-07 07:27:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1890168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gilliandersob/pseuds/gilliandersob
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mulder and Scully investigate an abandoned house in the NC mountains and get much more than they were expecting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Abandoned

“This is the place,” Mulder said, taking the key out of the ignition. He gazed at the house from the side of the road, the moonlight giving it an eerie glow. He could make out the front porch through the trees that swallowed the front yard. Opening the car door, he got out, not taking his eyes off the house.

“Come on, Scully,” he said, with a quick motion of his wrist. The gravel driveway crunched beneath his boots, and he was pleased to hear Scully following behind. He didn’t care to have to turn around and beg her to follow. The air smelled of rotten wood and honeysuckle. Mulder’s shoulder brushed past a bush of the sweet flowering plant as he began to move closer.

“Mulder…there’s nothing here. Do we really need to risk breaking an entering?” Scully’s voice sounded far away, and he rolled his eyes as he turned back, facing his partner who was standing by the old metal mailbox with her hands on her hips, looking exasperated.

“We haven’t even seen anything, Scully. We’ve got to get closer.”

“The building doesn’t even look structurally sound! What if we hurt ourselves? There’s nobody around for miles, and certainly no cell phone coverage!”

She was looking for excuses to leave. She hadn’t been terribly excited about this idea from the beginning, though that was nothing new. The minute the e-mails began rolling in about the reports of lights over Mount Pisgah in North Carolina, Mulder was certain he’d need to come investigate. They’d packed their bags within a few hours and boarded a flight to Asheville, Scully grumbling all the way about how useless this trip was. There hadn’t even been any injuries or deaths, she’d said. We’re going to investigate these lights and it’ll come to light that kids were playing with laser pointers, she’d said. The money used on the trip is going to be questioned, she’d said.

Mulder had heard it all before, and was well versed in tuning it out. The lights reported over the mountain weren’t from laser pointers, or swamp gas, or anything earthly. They’d been seen from the observation deck at the top of Mount Pisgah by some late-night hikers. They were reported as being in the formation of a perfect circle; the multicolored lights had hovered for several minutes before brightening the sky in a blinding flash of light, then they disappeared all together. It happened on several more occasions and the number of witnesses grew.

The two FBI agents had hiked to the top of Mount Pisgah the afternoon before the trip to this abandoned house. They’d both stood at opposite sides of the observation deck, looking out over the Blue Ridge Mountains. Annoying gnats swarmed the area, and all Scully wanted to do was leave. Mulder was only trying to decide how to tell Scully about the house. He’d learned about it from their hotel clerk the night they’d checked in.

Apparently the place was a hotbed for unusual activity. Teenagers liked to use it as an initiation rite, daring people to stay overnight. The house was so out of the way that the vast majority of people who attempted the solo slumber party failed, never having found the structure. Most people thought it was haunted, but a few people had said that it wasn’t ghosts at all: that the house was another UFO hotspot.

Swatting the gnats out of his face, he’d turned to Scully, announcing his plan.

“What do you know about hauntings, Scully?

Scully turned, giving the question some honest thought.

“Well, Mulder…’hauntings’ are usually simply caused by the power of suggestion. Tell someone a place is haunted, and they’ll be convinced they’d seen something that wasn’t actually there. There are also drug-induced sightings, which are self-explanatory-”

Mulder cut her off, knowing she could go on listing her logical explanations for hours.

“Want to check out a haunted house, Scully?” He watched as she screwed up her face in confusion.

“A haunted house? I thought we were out here looking for proof of these…lights.”

“It’s…I don’t think it’s haunted. I think it’s being used by the extraterrestrials responsible for these lights as some sort of…as a kind of temporary home base.” Or at least that’s what he’d been led to believe after talking to the hotel clerk more this morning.

Scully sighed, lifting the collar of her shirt off her chest in a feeble attempt to cool down. She thought it would be cooler up here, but the heat was just as intense here as it was in downtown Asheville. The July sunshine was better than cool rain, but after a hike up the mountain, rain didn’t sound half bad. She looked over at Mulder, who was gazing out over the mountains again.

“All right, Mulder. Anything to get off this mountain. These bugs are driving me insane.”

Now, at 3 am, Mulder and Scully walked down the gravel driveway towards the house, their flashlights flickering through the trees. Mulder had ignored her pleas to turn around and head back to the hotel. Instead, he’d turned and kept walking, knowing she’d follow regardless of her reservations.

“What do you hope to find in here, anyway?” Scully asked, swinging her arms in an animated fashion to convey her annoyance at this whole venture.

“I was told that this place is generally believed to be haunted. However, I interviewed a man who also saw the lights over Mount Pisgah - he claims to have been taken here by extraterrestrials - taken out of his house and brought here, Scully, in the middle of the night.”

Scully paused, looking incredulously at Mulder.

“You brought us up here based on one man’s testimony that he was abducted? Did he also claim to have been visited by Sasquatch while on his quest to find proof of the existence unicorns, Mulder?”

“Sasquatch is believed to be in the Pacific Northwest, Scully. We’re in the mountains of North Carolina. Besides, the man was sane, and believe me, I know insane.”

Scully sighed, catching up with Mulder as he stood still, staring at the house, getting a good look for the first time.

The house was run down, to say the least. Weeds had long overtaken the front yard, and small trees had grown up through the cracks in the cement porch. It was a small, one story structure; the clapboard siding was obviously decaying, and the roof over the porch looked rather precarious. The posts leaned to the right ever so slightly, and it looked as though a light breeze might topple it over any second.

Mulder didn’t waste any time by climbing the crumbling cement steps tot he porch, avoiding the sprouting tree. He pulled the screen door open, causing an awfully loud screech into the silent night.

“Well, aliens, you heard that for sure - come get us,” Scully joked, holding out her hands as she followed Mulder to the door.

“They don’t come when called, Scully. They’re not dogs,” Mulder said as he turned the front door knob, relieved to find out it was open. Pushing it wide, the living area was revealed, the wooden flooring very old, but in surprisingly good shape. Mulder eased his right foot onto the floor, testing the integrity - he didn’t care to go crashing through the floorboards. What Scully had said was true: if they were hurt, they may not be found for days.

The floor creaked as Mulder moved further into the room. Old, yellowing wallpaper peeled off the walls, and one metal chair sat in a corner, its front left leg partially bent so it leaned to one side. The air was stuffy - it was obvious the house had been shut up for some time. There were no signs of forced entry, and the windows were, surprisingly, intact. It seemed odd that even a storm or a protruding tree branch hadn’t invaded the inside of the house by now.

Mulder surveyed the living room for a little bit longer, then decided to go int he opposite direction when Scully headed to the kitchen.

He entered a bedroom, just off the hallway leading from the living room. It was small, with a twin bed under the one window. Sheets and a blanket covered the mattress, like the owner of the house was expected back any day. Curtains hung in the window; covered in dust, they were embroidered with a star pattern - dark blue stars on a white background. They matched the blanket on the bed. Mulder opened the bedroom closet to find an old cigar box.

Just as he placed the box gingerly on the bed, Scully found him. The beam of her flashlight landed on his face and he squinted as he on the bed. Dust billowed up into the air, dancing in the beam of light.

“Nothing unusual in the kitchen. Only some old dishes still in the sink and a calendar from 1937. Find anything in here, Mulder?” Scully surveyed the small room, then moved closer to the bed, leaning on the post.

“Found this box,” Mulder absently stated, opening the lid with his fingertips. Inside, he found a couple old baseball cards and a few marbles. Scully didn’t appear surprised at the find. Mulder, however, was intrigued, lifting the baseball cards to get a closer look.

“I suppose a family lived here at one time…” Scully said softly, realizing that the house was more than some abandoned hut. It had been someone’s home. And they were disturbing it.

“Put that stuff back, Mulder. Let’s get out of here. It’s…depressing.”

“There’s another bedroom down the hall. Let’s have a look before we go.”

The second bedroom was only slightly larger than the first, and it held an ancient chest of drawers complete with metal handles that clanked against the wood as Mulder pulled each drawer open. They were all empty, so he turned his attention to the closet, hoping to find something m ore interesting than a kids’ collection box.

Mulder pulled the closet door open slowly, and saw clothes still on their hangers. Two floral-print dresses hung alongside a man’s jacket. It was made of thick brown wool. Moths having long ago eaten away at the fabrics, the floral dresses were riddled with holes, the once vibrant colors now faded. The jacket appeared to be in better shape.

Mulder turned to see that Scully had opened the nightstand drawer and was pulling out some delicate sheets of paper. They appeared to be letters, and he watched as Scully unfolded one.

The letter was written in messy cursive, the ink faded with age. She brought the paper closer and shone her flashlight on the page. She sat gingerly on the bed and began to read:

“‘Darling, Do not worry. I’ll be…,’” she read, narrowing her yes in an attempt to decipher the next word before she continued: “’home…soon. The war in Europe must end soon, and….America hasn’t even entertained the idea of becoming involved. We’ll grow old together, and our…baby…will grow up and live in a peaceful world, that I promise you.’” She stared at the letter, not wanting to continue. Instead, she folded it back up, stuffing it back in the yellowing envelope.

“These are personal things, Mulder. We shouldn’t be here,” Scully said as she put the items back into the drawer.

“I’m curious, Scully,” he began, ignoring her comment. “How did it happen? Why were these things left here? Why did no one care to have them? The letters, for instance.”

Scully moved back to the doorway, hoping that Mulder would follow her out.

“I don’t know, Mulder. Maybe…maybe the people who lived here died, and there were no surviving relatives. It happens a lot, actually.”

He nodded, then turned in a slow circle, shining his flashlight in every corner. Scully lifted one eyebrow, not sure of what he was hoping to see.

“There’s water damage over here - see this crack in the wall? It runs along the corner of the room, then extends along the floorboards to the left…”

He trailed off, bending over to get a closer look. Scully watched as he followed the crack with his flashlight. He stopped suddenly, waving left hand at her. “Uh….Scully? This isn’t a crack after all..at least not one created by nature. There’s a door here.”

“A what? Mulder. Leave it alone.”

Despite her protests, she found herself crouching beside Mulder. She watched him push against the wall next to the dresser and was shocked when light began leaking through the small opening. It was brighter than both their flashlights, and as Mulder opened the door wider, they both shielded their eyes. It was blinding, and the strobe effect was overwhelming. Scully stood up, moving backwards until she hit the foot of the bed. Mulder was sitting on the floor now, his arm over his face. The heat radiated out of the growing doorway.

“Mulder, let’s go!” Scull yelled, her face becoming red. She put a hand on Mulder’s shoulder and pulled him back, trying to get him to stand up and away from the opening.

No sooner had he stood up than the opening sealed itself shut, all light and heat completely gone. The room was suddenly cold, and Scully rubbed her arms with her hands in an attempt to warm up.

“What the hell?” Mulder asked aloud.

The only answer he received was from the house itself: the tremble began at their feet, but soon both Mulder and Scully were thrown into one another as the house shook. Windows shattered, and Mulder was able to pull Scully toward the bedroom door before they were hit by glass.

“NOW CAN WE GO?” Scully yelled into the deafening noise.

Mulder only nodded and ran for the front door, pulling Scully behind him. They hit several walls and one old metal chair before they made it to the front porch. Throwing themselves off the edge of the porch, they landed among the weeds and trees just in time to see the porch collapse. The posts splintered and cracked as the weight of the roof came down, creating a huge cloud of dust and debris. Mulder covered his face with his jacket as he pushed himself off the ground. Scully, coughing and sputtering, followed him. 

At the end of the driveway, their car sat untouched. Scully wanted nothing more than to get in and drive away.

“Open the doors, Mulder! Let’s go!” Scully heard the click of the lock as Mulder hit the remote from his pocket. He watched as she climbed in the car and covered her face with her hands, clearly shaken up.

He turned back to the house, panting. The bright light was covering the broken house again, this time shining from somewhere among the trees. Mulder looked up in search of the source, but found only that it was too harsh to look at for too long. He held his hands up, shielding his eyes, as he watched a flying object shoot from among the trees, the light dissipating as it rose above the treeline. The perfect set of circles rose quickly and silently into the air, then disappeared.

All was silent, and Mulder couldn’t move.

“Scully. Scully did you see?”

He looked back at the car to see Scully slowly getting out of the passenger seat. She had her eyes not on the sky, but on Mulder. She watched him warily and moved toward him.

“Mulder? You okay?” she asked as she came to his side.

“Did you see that, Scully?”

“I didn’t see anything, Mulder. You shouldn’t have pushed on the wall like that. That house was clearly unstable, and we shouldn’t have even gone in. I told you. I told you it wasn’t safe.”

“Why do I never have a camera, Scully? Buy me one, will you?”

Scully sighed as she pushed Mulder towards the car.

“Fine, I’ll make it a Polaroid camera - you don’t even have to go to the drug store to get them developed,” she said, pushing him into the driver’s seat. “Start the car, Mulder. Let’s get back to the hotel. I’m filthy…”

“You didn’t see the lights?”

“I saw a roof about to collapse on our heads, Mulder.”

“Oh, Scully,” he said, leaning his head back against the headrest, unable to hold back a frustrated sigh.

**Author's Note:**

> -Mount Pisgah is indeed real, and the bugs are insane. The hike up the mountain is actually very nice, but once you're at the top, it's a small area with a wooden observation platform, and the rest of the area is taken up by a giant radio tower.


End file.
